In the past few days I've been designing a security key-in circuit. It works very well. The angle grinder came in the mail a few days ago, and today I cut one of the eight foot lengths of tubing into pieces for the frame. No word on the welder yet. I'm trying to raise some money by selling those motor controllers, so if you want one they're $75.

I bought some wheels at Pick A Part for $80. I also ordered a MIG-100 welder kit on eBay for $140 which comes with a welding mask and wire and stuff. The welder and the angle grinder probably won't arrive for two or three weeks from now, however, so I'm gonna have to find something productive to do for the project in the meantime.

I got back from rowing 16th century style spanish longboats all day, windsurfing, and sailing at Camp Gallagher (one of my favorite places ever!), and got right back to work on the electric car. I finished an on/off circuit which I can now use rather than disconnecting all the circuitry from the batteries. It should be good for 10A to pass through it - enough to power all the electronics, including the computer. When it is off, the motor controller circuits and whatnot use about 3mA. I wanted to keep the power consumption while the vehicle is "turned off" below one milliamp, but I guess three is okay. I also went to Zeigler's Welding and bought 32 feet of 3/4" steel tubing today for $33 (not the best deal, but it saved a lot of driving) and bought a 4.5" angle grinder on eBay for $25 (comes with 5 cutting blades and 5 grinding blades.. pretty good deal!). I'm still looking for a welder I can borrow. I added up prices from receipts I have and so far I've spent somewhere over $400 on this electric vehicle.